BRADY FLANIGANStaff Writer

August was time for a tire change in Tullahoma’s administration—new mayor, new aldermen, new directions. Now it’s February, and city leadership is mapping out the year ahead. In an exclusive interview with The News, Mayor Lynn Sebourn laid out his goals for 2025, speaking candidly about the challenges and opportunities facing the city, from outdated land use plans to the rising cost of asphalt. 

Comprehensive Planning and Land Use

“The biggest plans for this fiscal year are to develop some plans,” Sebourn said with a laugh. “There’s been all this discussion about the growth of Tullahoma, and that just impacts nearly everything the city does.”

At the heart of this initiative is modernizing Tullahoma’s land use map and comprehensive plan, both of which guide development and zoning decisions across the city. “There’s been a lot of discussion and debate about comprehensive plans the last few years. I feel like we know a pretty good deal about what our needs are and we just need to get that done. Developers need to know where they can do things,” he said. “Yeah, there’s a map out there now, but it’s outdated and a bit chaotic.”

To better address this, Sebourn has taken a personal seat on the Planning Commission to steer the process, citing his past experience in urban planning with Tullahoma. “I’ve been through that before—it’s hard to make everything neat and clean,” he said. “There’s value in Planning, even if what you put on paper is always a little wrong.” 

His goal is to blend what’s useful from existing plans, such as the previous administration’s failed Think Tullahoma 2040 Plan, with fresh insights. “There’s probably good stuff in all of that,” he said. “And there’s probably stuff, now that we’ve had a little time to think about it, that we don’t want. We’ve got some work to do on our planning and codes to try to work smoothly with developers while at the same time keeping the public safe and keeping things the way the community wants it.”

The Arnold Heritage Innovation Center

One of the more significant projects on the horizon is the Arnold Heritage Innovation Center, a dual-purpose facility designed partially to honor Air Force Gen. Henry Arnold while also operating as a space to foster business startups and aerospace collaboration. 

“Beverly Lee, who’s our TAEDC chairman, has been championing that for a while,” Sebourn said. “There’s not a museum in his honor anywhere in the country, which is hard to imagine.”

The city’s role is to identify and secure a location for the center, which Sebourn sees as the first step toward unlocking federal funding. “We need the city to make a commitment that we can work to make the properties available,” he said. He envisions the center as a blend of historical recognition and innovation: “ that kind of gives us a basis to have a bit of a historical thing and then hopefully that innovation center will be both a place to do technical business startups and be a meeting center for business around AEDC.”  

Infrastructure and Roads

When it comes to roads, Sebourn didn’t shy away from the realities. “The amount of roads we have to pave, with the increased price of asphalt especially, is exceeding our ability to pay,” he said. Rising costs tied to inflation and oil prices have put pressure on the city’s paving budget. “ It’s a problem across the whole state, so it’s not just our community.” 

One recent improvement Sebourn noted was the construction on William Northern Boulevard finally nearing completion. “Hopefully, we’re going to get William Northern finished up as soon as the weather gets nice,” Sebourn said. “I see it every day. It’s disrupting my traffic a little bit, but I think that’s going to be nice when it’s done.” 

To maximize resources, Sebourn pointed to new equipment for sealing patches in the road as a promising solution. “There’s little things like that we need to look at and can do. This patch job they did on Lincoln Street with this new equipment that heat seals the patch apparently is really good,” he said. “Maybe there are things we can do to kind of stretch out the life of the roads, but there’s only so much you can do.”

Economic Development and Growth

Sebourn acknowledged the city’s steady growth rate of 1-2%, though he sees the pace as both a strength and a potential concern. “I think the last year or two was more like 1.2% to 1.5%,” he said. “I think one percent is pretty slow compared to the rest of the state right now, and that is a concern. That’s one thing I’d ask people to think about. We think, ‘Well, that’s pretty good. Maybe that’s too much.’ And then you realize communities around us are growing three and four percent. At some point, they start to cannibalize what you’re doing, and you end up in competition where you don’t want to be.”

Some residents worry that growing too fast could threaten Tullahoma’s small-town feel or stretch the city’s resources too thin. Sebourn understands the concerns but doesn’t believe restricting zoning is the answer. “Jobs may come anyway,” he said. “And then you’re trying to fill jobs without residents. That has its own problems.”

The upcoming closure of Big Lots is one challenge the city faces, but Sebourn isn’t worried about filling the space. “That’s a prime location,” he said. “We won’t have any trouble filling that spot.”

Downtown Revitalization and Safety

A crumbling building on West Lincoln Street has become a point of concern for the city. “The surface is actually a hazard to pedestrians potentially at this point,” Sebourn said, noting that the structure has fallen into disrepair and poses risks to neighboring properties.

“We’re going to have some discussions with the owner again this week,” he said. “It’s a blight on downtown, and frankly, it’s something that needs to be dealt with one way or another.”

A Balancing Act for 2025

Sebourn’s first year as mayor is about learning and laying a foundation for the city’s future. “I think our biggest challenge is all the infrastructure things that we know we need,” he said, referencing the ongoing road work and future planning efforts.

Still, he sees growth as a sign of Tullahoma’s strength. “People come here because it’s a great place to live,” he said. “The only way to stop growth is to stop being a great place to live—and that’s not an option.”

From revisiting long-overdue plans to pushing for big ideas like the Arnold Heritage Innovation Center, Sebourn is focused on steering Tullahoma toward a stronger, smarter future.